It’s not too often we have a
“Heritage Handicap” to get our teeth into during the week, but
the Betfred Mobile (3.45) at Newmarket on Friday is just that. Henry
Candy’s progressive, unbeaten 3-year-old Twilight Son is likely to
prove popular once again, so we should have plenty of room for
manoeuvre at the other end of the market.
Squats is 10lb better off for
the 3¼ lengths he finished behind Twilight Son at York last time
and, while he’s by far the more exposed of the pair, the way he
kept on in the closing stages at York suggested that the final hill
on the July Course would play to his strengths. The Dandy Man gelding
hasn’t won since edging out Profitable in a nursery handicap, over
5 furlongs, at Ascot last September and remains 9lb higher in the
weights, but shouldn’t be underestimated.
Primrose Valley has just a
single win, in a 0-75 nursery handicap, over 5 furlongs, at Newcastle
last August, to his name on turf, so his improvement over the winter
could simply be due to the switch to synthetic surfaces. However, the
fact remains that he’s officially improved by 11lb since last
October and is almost certainly better than he was able to show over
5 furlongs at Lingfield in April, when trapped wide on the track for
most of the way. He, too, remains 7lb higher in the weights than when
last winning a handicap but, if he can translate his all-weather from
back to turf after 98 days, he could go well at decent odds.
Selections: Newmarket 3.45
Squats, Primrose Valley
